POPULAR GARDENING. 



March, 



fruit for the winter when other kinds of 

 fruit are absent. 



On BtTTlNG THE STOCK FOR PLANTING. 



20. Avoid buying of imrcliable dealers. 



Face the fact that there are many unscru- 

 pulous agents among those who supply trees, 

 plants and seeds, but also that there is no 

 lack of reliable ones. 



It is well to notice that the dishonest 

 agent makes the most extraordinary claims 



Fia. 26. 



Undrained 



land; the pores 



filled with water. 



Fid. 22. The heaviest growth in 

 the bitttom braiichcs^ hence 

 not well suited fitr street 

 playiting, where long trunks 

 are desirable. See No. 23. 



Fig.'^S. The h( aril st imnoth 

 at the top. i)iduci)iii the 

 tree to have a hnih trunk, 

 hence well suitedjor'street 

 planting. See No. 22. 



for new and wonderful fruits and flowers, 

 and cheats by the use of spurious samples 

 or exaggerated engravings and descriptions. 



You can rely on the agent who sells 

 over the same territory year after year. 



You can trust the agent, stranger though 

 he be, who representing a flrst-class nursery, 

 carries a sirincd certificate of recent date 

 from the nursery he sells for. Always ex- 

 amine the certificate before buying. 



Swindlers have been know to carry forged 

 certificates ; if you have any suspicions on 

 tills point write to the nursery asking if so 

 and so is their trusted agent. 



As a rule buy no seeds of travellers or at 

 drug or grocery stores. Ortler from the 

 catalogues of reliable dealers. 

 21. Choose young thrifty trees for best results. 



A tree should largely be judged by the 

 size of its root not by its top. 



Young trees — those from one to two years 

 from the graft come from the nursery with 

 much sti'onger roots in proportion to the top 

 than older trees. In the engraving figure 17 

 the small stock to the left is that of a year- 

 ling tree and showing the probable line 

 at which the roots would be cut in digging. 

 It is seen that nearly all the roots are pre- 

 served in digging. The otiier shows a tree 

 of some years' growth in the nursery and 

 with roots reaching out about as indicated. 

 In digging such a tree all roots beyond the 

 dotted line would be liable to be left back. 

 Large as this specimen is above ground 

 we think for transplanting it stands an un- 



growers in both fruits and ornamentals 

 better suited to the place. 



Where space is very limited employ vines 

 such as the Grape or ornamental climbers 

 for they accommodate themselves 

 over a perpendicular surface. 



Every planter sets some street 

 trees, but many make mistakes as 

 to kinds especially in towns where 

 the law ( a proper one) requires that 

 the trunks be kept clear for ten 

 feet up. Here one should 

 select according to the 

 style of growth; if the 

 tendency is to branch low 

 witli a lieavy growth at 

 the bottom as in figure 22, 

 the tree is tar less suitable than 

 when the form is the rev.rse of 

 this as shown in figure 23. On this 

 account the A merican Elm is about 

 the ideal street shade tree. Our 

 towns abound with Maple and 

 Horse Chestnut trees in the high- 

 ways, which have crippled and 

 scarred trunks the result of severe 

 pruning to adapt unsuitable kinds 

 to certain requirements. 



In locating varieties in the orch- 

 ard or garden, set such as come 

 early into bearing nearest to the 

 entrance and the late kinds that 

 are harvested at one time to the rear. 



23. Wlien to Plant. Spring or Fall f 



A hard question because no one knows 

 the season ahead. Summer drouth is harder 

 on spring than on fall planting; extremely 

 cold weather the reverse of this in its effects. 

 In the southern states November to Jan- 

 uary is the preferred planting season gen- 



furnish good earth and plenty of it for the 

 plant, as indicated by B in fig. 23. 

 25. The soil should be well drained. 

 Is your soil well drained? Few kinds of 



Fig. 27. Fig. 28. Fin. 29- 

 Qravel land Underdrainage Wet land un- 

 naturally un- effected by rock derdrained 

 derdrained. seams. with tile. 



POOR 

 SUB SOIL 



Fig. 24. Providing good soil for planting in 

 where the land is poor. See No. 24. 



equal chance in the race for results looking 

 ten years ahead. 



22. Suit the kind to the place. 



Do not plant Apple or large shade trees in 

 narrow town lots; there are many smaller 



Fig. 30. Manner of lay ing main and lateral un- 



cler-drains. See No. 25. 



erally. Taking one year with another we 

 would not recommend fall planting in local- 

 ities where the winters are known to be 

 severe. Yet even here there might be little 

 risk in fall planting with any but the stone 

 fruits, Strawberries, Evergreens and orna- 

 mental trees, shrubs and plants: these we 

 would prefer to plant in the spring. 



But whether done in the spring or the fall 

 let the planting be done early in the season. 



Thr Soil in Which to Plant. 



24. Land well suited to gardening or to 



Wheat or Com issuitedfor trees and vines. 



The soil needs thorough cultivation and 

 enriching for trees no less than to pro- 

 duce a good crop of Corn. If the culture 

 given to the crop named or to garden crops 

 were bestowed to trees,especially for the first 

 five years after planting, many less reports 

 of failure in planting would be heard. 



To plant trees in soil that is very dry and 

 gravelly or where the top earth is very 

 shallow or on the site of an old dead tree, 

 there should be special preparations, as 

 shown in fig. 24, namely; The sterile earth 

 should be dug out for a space of say five 

 feet across and two feet deep, and be re- 

 placed by fresh loam iu which to plant. 



Vines planted against a house or verandah 

 post often fail because the soil here was 

 the hard subsoil dug from the cellar and 

 was filled in. Under such circumstances 



trees or plants, none in the fruit class 

 succeed in wet land, A soil too wet for 

 raising good winter Wheat is too wet for 

 trees. This may be known if water stands 

 in the furrows for half a week or more after 

 the frost has left the earth in the spring, or 

 after continuous rains have held up. Drain 

 such land before planting it to trees. 



Some lands have natural underdrainage, 

 others are suflSciently undulating that the 



Figs. 31 atid upper one 32. Tito forms of levels 

 for use in ditch bottoms. See No. 25 



surface water flow so readily as to obviate 

 the need of any applied drainage. 



Fig. 26, shows a section of soil supposed 

 to be excessively wet from the inability 

 of the water to readily escape. Fig. 27, a 

 similar section naturally under-drained by 

 the presence of gravelly soil beneath; thus 

 affording the means for the water to settle 

 away. Fig. 28 shows another kind of 

 natural underdrainage namely that of soil 

 which overlays rocks the seams of which 

 make a passage for the escape of wetness 

 above. Fig. 29 represents a cross section of 

 a tile drain laid in soil not naturally under- 

 drained. 



Every planter should ascertain under 

 which of the forgoing heads his lands comes 

 gaugeing his plans accordingly. 



If it needs draining, a system of unrter- 

 drains should be provided which will 

 permit all excess of moisture readily to 

 escape. Drains usually are laid as follows: 

 A main drain (as a in Fig. 30) is laid start- 

 ing from a low point to provide uniformly 

 from U inch to 1 inch fall for each rod in 



^ 



Fig. 31. Planting in undrained soil. See No. 25. 



length of the system throughout. This main 

 may le.ad along one side or through the cen- 

 ter of the plat to be drained. 



Leading into the main {a to h and c) are 

 lateral tiles laid in parallel lines through the 

 grounds, and usually at a distance of two 

 rods or somewhat upwards apart. The 

 system should be so laid out, having a depth 

 of not less than 2}.i feet at the shallowest 

 parts for all the laterals, and to have the 

 fall indicated above throughout. 



Two inch tile are .suitable for the laterals, 

 and three, four or more inch for the mains, 

 depending upon the area included. A device 

 such as shown in Fig. 31 (lower), in which a 

 spirit level is attached to a board, or Fig 32 

 (upper),with a line and plummet suspending 



